31 March 2009
Economic Zones World (EZW), committed to drive Dubai and the UAE’s economic development through unique Economic Zone investment incentives, announced an ambitious initiative to vitalise industrial sector in the region. EZW, through its Research and Development arm, TechnoPark’s Dubai Institute of Technology (DIT) will host the region’s first international Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) Forum in Dubai. The Forum will provide a platform to high profile gathering of top regional and global industry experts at the event to have a serious dialogue on the prospects and challenges the SMEs face as global economy passes through slowdown.
DIT, in collaboration with the International Network of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (INSME), is organising the event on April 21-23 at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers to provide a more focused thrust on industrial development in the country. The main aim is to use the Forum as a platform to enable the economy face the current global financial crisis in the most effective manner. TechnoPark, under which DIT functions, is an active member of INSME.
Salma Hareb, Chief Executive Officer of Economic Zones World, said that the DIT SMEs Forum is more than just an event. It is one of our major initiatives planned for 2009 aiming at stimulating industrial activities in the region to support steady economic progress even in times of financial slowdowns.
“The time has come for more targeted initiatives to make the economy even more resistant to crises. SMEs make one of the most potential development sectors in the region, and have played a leading role in the UAE’s economic progress. The Free Zones, with their special investment features and incentives have made a huge difference to the operational ease of SMEs. Out of over 6,000 companies in Jebel Ali Free Zone, a large majority are SMEs. This puts Economic Zones World in a vital position to seek ways to support the sector. Through DIT, we aim to boost the country’s technology-driven industrial development in energy, high-tech and environmental resource management sectors. The SMEs forum reflects this,” she commented.
Ms Hareb added: “The potential of small and medium industries still remains largely under-utilised in the region. A lot more has to be done in terms of technology, skills and capital access. The Forum will provide a timely platform for industry leaders to address these issues and come up with new ideas.”
The three-day DIT SMEs Forum will include over 200 prominent delegates from across the globe and will feature specialised roundtable sessions, workshops and case studies. It will enable network members, their industries, academia, research and development centres as well as cooperative international organisations to exchange knowledge and promote investment contracts.
The Forum, under the theme “Building a Knowledge-based Eco-system for SMEs: Finance, Innovation, Technology and Networking” will focus on SME Financing, Cross Border Networking, Transnational Technology Transfer, Entrepreneurship & SME Innovation and Intellectual Capital Structure.
The DIT SMEs Forum will also host the 5th INSME Annual Meeting 2009, which will take place on April 21. This will be the first INSME annual meet to be held in the Middle East region. INSME is one of the world’s leading non-profit associations dedicated to SME innovation, technology transfer and related issues.
The event will be supported by various entities including among others, the Arab Science & Technology Foundation (ASTF), United Nations Industrial Developments Organisation (UNIDO) – Bahrain, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Italian Institute for Industrial Promotion, Italian Ministry of Economic Development, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italian Embassy of UAE, and the Italian Industry & Commerce Office Dubai.